What is our road made of?

**TOTO** · 13th January 2010, 11:01

Have you ever stopped your bike and laid down on the road and looked at it up close?

So close to be able to look into the eyes of an ant?

Well if you haven't, here is what you will see...

A surface made out of stones, stuck together with a black substance under the name of tar. Under the scorching summer sun the tar boiling and bubbling over, and in this process swallowing the stones which originally had been laid on the top to provide grip. This leaves YOU, the rider, riding and relying on a substance with the consistency of a marshmallow sent from hell. It is the silent killer lurking on our place of fun, entertainment, and relaxation. It will take any opportunity it can to make us sorry we ever swung a leg over our bike that day.

Unfortunately there is no sign of this silent killer going away soon, because our roads are being built with cost saving as a first priority and safety for road users second. As you are reading this, the men in orange are laying tar, stones and spit and making what we in New Zealand call "Road".

**yungatart** · 13th January 2010, 11:08

Disgusting, eh/
We were headed around the lake the other day. A road that we have regularly driven/ridden over for the last few years was being resealed (Don't ask me why, because it was in pretty good condition). They had resealed two areas and were in the process of doing a third. There were whole strips of the first one they had done, where the chip had already gone.....after resealing it was in worse condition than before.

**ukusa** · 13th January 2010, 11:30

Good post, you're right. cheap & nasty is what it is.

another downside is the crap (ie. super sticky tar covered stones) that adheres to all parts motorbike when you travel through it, even at slow "roadworks" pace. This shit is bloody time consuming & difficult to get off.
Trucks seem to chew it up, gather it in their tread & spit it back at you at high speed too.

**Swoop** · 13th January 2010, 12:14

Typical kiwi mentality of "doing the job as cheap as possible".
Examples:
Roads.
Houses.
Infrastructure.
Etc.
Etc.

**Elysium** · 13th January 2010, 12:15

Originally Posted by ukusa

Trucks seem to chew it up, gather it in their tread & spit it back at you at high speed too.

It'll get worse when bigger trucks hit our roads.

**Hopeful Bastard** · 13th January 2010, 12:38

Hey.. i have some of that funny looking shit in pics 1, 2 and 5 on my road too now.. Damn you for mentioning this!

Again.. There was nothing wrong with this piece of road.. I can think of other major places that need doing!

**Elysium** · 13th January 2010, 12:43

I think every year Transit or who looks after our roads have to spend their allocated budget by the end of the year or something like that. So that might explain why they dig up good roads. That sound right?

**ukusa** · 13th January 2010, 15:21

Originally Posted by Elysium

I think every year Transit or who looks after our roads have to spend their allocated budget by the end of the year or something like that. So that might explain why they dig up good roads. That sound right?

probably is. Although their favourite money waster at the moment seems to be those stupid rumble edge lines

**Qkchk:Me** · 13th January 2010, 15:27

To make it even better, there has been a few 'trails' of special roading chip. This includes recycled glass and tyres.

**crazyhorse** · 13th January 2010, 15:34

Originally Posted by TOTO

Have you ever stopped your bike and laid down on the road and looked at it up close?

So close to be able to look into the eyes of an ant?

Well if you haven't, here is what you will see...

A surface made out of stones, stuck together with a black substance under the name of tar. Under the scorching summer sun the tar boiling and bubbling over, and in this process swallowing the stones which originally had been laid on the top to provide grip. This leaves YOU, the rider, riding and relying on a substance with the consistency of a marshmallow sent from hell. It is the silent killer lurking on our place of fun, entertainment, and relaxation. It will take any opportunity it can to make us sorry we ever swung a leg over our bike that day.

Unfortunately there is no sign of this silent killer going away soon, because our roads are being built with cost saving as a first priority and safety for road users second. As you are reading this, the men in orange are laying tar, stones and spit and making what we in New Zealand call "Road".

Nice photos you have taken - very discriptive with the lense. Certainly does make you wonder though doesn't it

**sleemanj** · 13th January 2010, 15:36

Double edged sword if you ask me, yes it's a total pain on a bike, no matter what, even in a car it's messy.... then, dunno about you, but when I think of summers in that dim distant past, I always think of country roads to a river or something on scorching hot days with the aroma of melting tar and grass seed in the air.

Ahhh, them were the days.

**John_H** · 13th January 2010, 15:39

There is tar seal, which is the smooth kind and tar chip, which is the exposed stone kind. Both different surfaces laid down for different reasons.

**R6_kid:Me** · 13th January 2010, 16:10

I wonder if it is possibly to dye the tar so that it doesn't heat up as much in the sun?

**OutForADuck** · 13th January 2010, 16:14

I thought they were made of potholes!!! Roading 101... get a whole lot of holes and join them using some Tar and chip!!

Toto... no one has asked... but why did you end up looking down the road from a nats sneaker point of view.. anything you need to tell us???